Oh, the poof hairstyle. This was nearly exactly 4 years ago, when we made a trip to Niagara Falls
1. I will defend my love of the band Hanson until the day I die. Seriously, they're that good.
This is still true, though I give my future self permission to not defend them. I mean, until I die? That's really locking my musical taste in, and I'm not into that.
2. I hate being predictable. If someone predicts something about me, I deliberately do all I can to not make it happen.
I still have a rebellious side about this, but more often, if someone says something about me that is mostly true, I'm happy to own to it. Usually.
3. I'm not really a chick flick girl. I'd watch The Dark Knight, Speed Racer, Tommy Boy, etc. over a chick flick almost any day. But I do have a soft spot for John Cusack's chick flicks.
Even more true than it used to be, since now that Ray's around, I rarely subject him to a chick flick. I do sometimes miss them, though, and would welcome a girls' night to enjoy a particularly well made chick flick.
4. I love to learn and discover new things. But did not enjoy college at all. I don't recommend an accounting major...
This makes me more sad than it used to. And I have a feeling that not enjoying college had a lot to do with my anxiety about wanting to get great grades and do it quickly. I wish I'd given myself permission to slow down or breathe. I've been back to college twice since then, and have enjoyed both experiences.
5. I'd love to do my dream job... but I have no clue what that would be!! Too many fun choices.
I think, more and more, that my dream job would have something to do with feeding people. Maybe not so much a restaurant. But a breakfast and lunch service bakery? I could be really into that.
6. Cooking is one of my favorite things to do. But I eat and cook at home maybe 1/4 of the time.
Oh and hey, look at that. The cooking thing is still very true, but now I cook at home probably 4/5ths of the time? A lot, anyway. Having my own kitchen has a lot to do with that.
7. I have extreme wanderlust. The second I get home from a long vacation, I almost immediately start planning the next one. And cannot wait to start it again! I'm totally fine with living out of a suitcase.
The wanderlust still exists, but has diminished due to other needs for my money. I still dream of places to travel, but it doesn't hurt my heart quite like it used to. Probably Ray has a lot to do with that. There's more things at home to love.
8. I graduated from Utah State with a Bachelors in Accounting in May 07 and started a real-life career two days later. Now I really recommend taking a week or two off to just play!
I would still recommend this. But I am immensely grateful that I had a job so soon after college. I know that I would have felt rather pointless had I not gone home to an actual career-life.
9. I ran the St. George Marathon in Oct. 06, and strongly assert that if I can do it, literally anyone can! (excepting extreme situations, of course)
I still assert this, but acknowledge that the mindset must be there. If you don't want to do it...? You won't. Also, maybe I should get back into running...
10. I was extraordinarily shy as a child and still have trouble overcoming it.
I'm happy to say that I feel rather comfortable in my own skin nowadays. Much of my shyness-difficulties had to do with dating situations, and that's not a problem anymore! (yay) I'm still not the life of the party, but I feel pretty great about my leaps and bounds since then.
11. I feel silly talking about myself so much and I'm not even half way through this...
Ha, well, I'm doing this again. And I feel less silly about it because I like reflecting on my past and present self. It's good for the soul, I think. Also, it's your own choice if you're reading this, so I don't hold myself as accountable for possibly boring you.
12. I'm a critic. About everything. But I realize that I should probably not be and, thus, try to censor myself in a conversation as much as possible.
I'm happy to report that I'm at least a little better at this. I'm usually happy to allow other people their opinions, and I feel much more at peace with the things I do or do not like in life.
13. Even though you'll constantly hear me talking about independence, and a girl can get along just fine without a guy, I'm secretly (well, not secret anymore) a ridiculous romantic at heart. I swoon with the best of the girly-girls.
This. is still a thing and actually caused problems in my courtship with Ray. I gave him the impression that I don't like/need romantic things, and so he trained himself to stop. And now, all I ever want is for him to be sweet and romantic again. We're working on it, and I'm happy to say he's getting himself back to his normal romantic self and I'm acting more appreciative (I think/hope?) when he does those things.
Picture break! New Years, 2009. Look at me trying to rock Vans, like that was a things I should do...
14. I think it's silly to pay for Netflix when you can get almost identical service for free at your public library.
I still stand by my point, mostly. But a) I don't have as much time to watch movies and rarely use it, and b) I now pay for Hulu Plus, so... sorry past Ashley.
15. I'm a movie fiend. And I love searching out new oldies I haven't seen yet.
Yeeeeeah, I don't really do this anymore. It's mostly a time thing. And the fact that there are more fun things to do besides movies. But I kind of want to start again! Because I do love watching really great oldies. Any recommendations?
16. I love my car for being the only thing that will listen to me sing for hours and hours. Oh, and my car's name is CinderStar, because I thought she needed a name that sounds like a Transformer.
I don't get much time to drive by myself, aside from going from work to home each day. And when I'm with Ray, we rarely bust out a song together. This makes me sad. I need to go on a long drive devoted to singing soon.
17. My best friend once told me that I make terrible first impressions because I tend to be incredibly sarcastic to people I just meet. Actually, I'm sarcastic to everyone I know, but people I just meet don't know that they should never take me seriously...
I'm a lot less sarcastic than I used to be. Apparently, people don't always like that? Ha. I think I started to realize that being nice, just in general, is important.
18. I have 50 first cousins... And I'm sad to admit that I'll occasionally forget a name.
Seriously. It's a problem. And now that they all have 500 kids, it's just a lost cause. But it does make me terribly sad that I rarely get to see them anymore. We need more family reunions!
19. I sleep with a stuffed animal named Floopy every night. Don't make fun!
This stopped happening maybe two years ago? Though he still had a special spot on my bed up until I got married. Now, he resides in a box. And it makes me sad. But I have a real life body next to me, and I don't want Ray jealous of Floopy.
20. It takes me a good couple of hours to decide if I want to buy a pair of jeans, and it took me all of 10 minutes to decide to buy my car. By the way, a car is not something you want to have buyer's remorse on. Trust me.
A lot of these statements are not so much definitions of me, but common sense. Like, duh. Don't buy a car on a whim. But, now that my car is paid off, I feel pretty great about it!
21. I recently discovered Buddy Holly's songs. He's great. Listen to Not Fade Away. It's awesome!
I still agree that Not Fade Away is fantastic, but, of course, it's not longer a recent discovery. In fact, it's been quite some time since I pulled out my oldies. And now, I want a Buddy Holly vinyl. Why didn't I think of this before?!
22. I tend to relate more to my niece and nephew than I do to others. It might be my love for Disney music, or for dancing around like crazy, or that I feel I never quite fully experienced my childhood.
I still love my nieces and nephews, but I can say that I haven't watched the Disney channel for quite some time. But. I will ALWAYS be up for a Disney music dance/sing a long. I think I've grown up a bit. This is probably good. And I've learned how to have childlike joy whilst doing age-appropriate things.
23. I'm annoyed when people don't know when a song is a cover or remake of something else. And even more annoyed when I myself don't realize it.
Ha, Ray shares this quality with me! Which I appreciate. It's one of my favorite things to introduce my Little, Ariel, to the original songs when all she knows is the cover.
24. At least half of the words I speak tend to be movie quotes. And at least 80% of the time, only my sisters or Kristin would have the slightest clue what I'm referring to.
I'm sure I was vastly overstating this. Half? Come on. But there are still many movie quotes that I like to share with Kristin or my sisters. It's a nice nostalgic bond.
25. My biggest pet peeve is when someone underestimates me or is condescending to me. But sometimes I'm afraid I do it to other people. Which would be awful of me.
Condescension still drives me crazy, and yeah, probably because it's very much a reflection of some of my worst qualities. I'm getting better at recognizing and pulling back any time the thought occurs to me. I think maybe it's also a reflection of my fears of not living up to my potential? Who knows. But, this definitely still bugs me.
Back when I used to go to, and dress up for, midnight movie premieres.
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